December 2006

(State,
in more than 600 words, the outline of your major field of study and the
details of your research proposal.

This
section will be used as one of the most important reference for selection. Statement must be printed by computer or hand
written in block letters. Additional
sheets of paper may be attached if necessary.)

i) Key words or technical terms of your
research topic (Write down up to 5).

(研究テーマのキーワードもしくは専門用語(5つまで))

1. electric vehicle

2. motion control

3. control theories

4. reference

5. electric motors

ii) Field of study (専攻分野)

Currently
most of the vehicles in the world use fossil fuels that contribute to most of
air pollution and the prices of fossil fuels are fluctuated according to the
world market. Therefore we need to develop a new kind of vehicle that is environmental
friendly, that developing electric vehicle.

The
development of electric vehicle is important for Indonesia. Currently we are still
using vehicles that use fossil fuels that cause us to be dependent to crude oil
prices in the world market. We should note that in couple of decades from now,
Indonesia will be a net importer of crude oil, which will cause us more
vulnerable with the fluctuation of crude oil, therefore the use of electric
vehicle should be encourage for the near future.

Electric
vehicles design for automobiles basically can be divided into two major types;
Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), that convert chemical energy to electrical
energy in batteries, and hybrid vehicles. The market for electric vehicle is
still small compared to the regular vehicle. In USA,
around 10.000 electric cars were in use in America in 2006. Among these
electric cars are Toyota RAV4 EVs and Ford Ranger EVs.

Electric
Vehicle as research project in Japan
has been conducted by Dr. Shimizu from Keio university with KAZ (Keio Advanced
Zero-emission) vehicle, an eight-wheeled limousine like vehicle. Another
research is conducted by Dr. Hori from Tokyo University
with his “UOT electric-march II”, “UOT cadwell EV”, and one seater “COMS
CV”.

iii) Research proposal in detail (研究計画：詳細に記入すること。)

Electric
motors can be easier to controlled, that makes it is a good choice to drive
vehicles. Their mechanical is simple and it delivers power more efficiently. Unlike
internal combustion engine, electric motors can produce high torque while an
electric vehicle is stopped. They also have very quick torque response. On the
other hand, they have highly accurate output torque, since it is equal to the
command value. Since the motor torque can be measured easily, the road surface
condition can be measured very easily.

Electric
motors don’t need gears to match power curves so that the necessity to uses
gearbox and torque converter can be removed. Electric motors can also convert
energy from movement into electricity through regenerative braking. It can be
used to reduce the usage of brake systems and reduce the total energy
requirement of a trip. The electric motors can be both engine and brake, so
there is no difference between acceleration and deceleration. Electric motors
can be equipped for each wheel because it is very compact.

The
proposed research is to utilize these advantages of electric vehicles in motion
control. We want to have desired output that is called the reference. Control
theory in this field deals with the dinamical system of electric vehicle. When
one or more output variables of electric vehicle system need to follow a
certain reference over time. Controller manipulates the inputs to this electric
vehicle system to obtain the desired effect on the output of the system.

System
that has a feedback controller will attempt to drive the system to a state
described by the desired input. The desired input could be velocity, position,
angle, etc. Usually in the classroom step inputs, ramp inputs, and other simple
inputs to determine the system response, but in these electric vehicle, we need
to generate this automatically.

During
my study as postgraduate student in Japan, I need to develop myself in
knowing what is the consumer wants and what is the industries (especially car
manufacturer) want. I expect close relationship between the industry and the
academic institutions. The industry has the capabilities to mass-produce the
electric vehicle; on the other hand, there are many research breakthroughs from
the university. With this goal, I am expecting that there will be some factory
visit during my studies. Factory visits can enhance the knowledge about what is
inside the car factory, the process of making car, also get an opportunity to
talk with the person from industry what they want the researcher from
universities can contribute.

ix) Perspective for your career after
finishing the post-graduate studies and coming back to your region.

(帰国後の抱負)

After finishing the post graduate
studies and coming back to Indonesia,
I want to continue my research in this field in car industries and/or as
faculty in my home university. The research of the electric vehicle should
involved many departments, such as electrical engineering, mechanical
engineering, chemistry, physics (to find the new material that can be used
effectively as battery that can last long). I want to develop cooperation
between these departments so that the research can cover all of the components
of electric vehicle.

The knowledge and experience that I got
during the postgraduate studies can be used to create a environmental friendly
vehicle. I also expected that I can make a better relationship between car
industries (in Indonesia)
and academic world, so that research in these universities can be used
efficiently. It is also important to persuade car manufacturers to start
assembling electric cars so that it can replace fuel-fossils cars in the
future. It is necessary to persuade them that the crude oils will be out of
supply in few decades; so it is needed to pay attention for research that is
dealing to overcome this problem.

Electrical
Engineering with specialization in Control Engineering. My graduation thesis’
title is “Design and Implementation of External Communication Module between
Mobile Robots. I’ve also involved in research during my exchange program in Japan that has
the title “Developing Micro Robots using Hopping Locomotion Principle”

My
final year project deals with the design
and implementation of external communication module between mobile robots.
The movement type that is used is differential steering movement type.

This
external communication module is attached at the back of mobile robot. This
external communication module is based on radio frequency. The advantage of
radio frequency is this method using wireless technology that is more practical
that wired technology

The
function of this external communication module is for the communication between
mobile robots such that the mobile robots can exchange data. This data is the
state of the sender mobile robot that represents distance and orientation of
that mobile robot.

The
experiment is done by sending the state of the sender mobile robot as 3-bit
data, 5-bit data, and 7-bit data for several distances. The distance that is
chosen is 2 meters, 4 meters, and 6 meters.

Experiment
results showed that external communication between mobile robots is working
well, with results of 3-bit, 5-bit, and 7-bit data sending that represents
mobile robot sender’s state for 2 meters, 4 meters, and 6 meters had data error
0%, except for the first try of sending 5-bit data with 6 meters distance there
is 17% of data error. For the application in the future, it is hoped that this
external communication module can be used in robotic soccer.

I’ve
also involved in a research that has the title “Developing Micro Robot using Hopping Locomotion Principle” during
my exchange program in Japan.

Rescue
in disaster area could be serious matters that involve many heterogeneous
agents in unpredicted environments. Robot can be used in this situation to help
rescue workers to find the victims while keeping away the rescue workers from
another danger such as re-collapsed of building that might be happened because
of the aftershocks or the structure is become weakened. These dangers of losing
lives of these rescue workers could be reduced by using robots to go inside the
disaster area.The micro robot will use two DC motors to make it move and to
control its movement. The DC motors that are used are from the type of
vibration motor. These flat micro vibration motors is supported at elastic
simple supported beam. This configuration can allow the mechanism to move and
hop cyclically. Because of the elastic
simple supported beam is attached on the frame body, the force that is
generated is alternated between forward and backward.

The
micro robot will use cadmium sulphide (CdS) sensor. This sensor is used to
detect if there is any light come or not. CdS photo resistor is a common
light-sensitive component. CdS photo resistor’s resistance is depends on the
amount of lights that hits it. When it has many lights that hits it, it will
cause the micro robot’s motor to stop vibrating. On the other hand, when no
light hit it, it has high resistance, so the micro robot’s motor will start
vibrating.